I write this article as a 72-year old man with hypertension well-controlled on antihypertensive medication and as such an individual who falls into the group of individuals at higher risk for a more complicated course of COVID-19 should I acquire that infection. I am also a doctor and spent my professional life as both a practicing specialist clinician and a manager of health services. The reason for my stating this at the outset will become apparent to the reader. In South Africa the surge of COVID-19 cases and COVID-19 associated deaths overall first peaked around July of this year, 2020, and subsequently declined. Prior to the surge the country went…
-
-
COVID-19 … social distancing is now the last line of defence.
In the term “social distancing” I include the full spectrum of measures introduced to counter the spread of the coronavirus. With the lifting of almost all the restrictions on the movement of individuals in South Africa “social distancing” to prevent the spread of the coronavirus becomes the last line of defence. Recently pictures on social media have shown groups of apparently well educated and informed people in South Africa happily congregating in groups without masks completely ignoring the need to remain at a safe distance from one another. Counter intuitively some are those who continue to work from home due to their age or because they have co-morbidities. For riders…
-
Leadership or management … the challenge of making decisions
I have been reflecting on the challenges President Ramaphosa faces in dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic and his struggle to match the need to consult widely and the need to take decisive decisions that have and will affect the lives of so many. Leadership, irrespective of position, requires the ability to motivate people and take an organisation in a given direction possibly different from that which it had previously taken. Management on the other hand involves systems and processes that allows an organisation to function efficiently and achieve its goals and objectives. Both expect those involved to act in an ethical and honest manner. This lead me to think about…
-
Groupthink … in a COVID-19 world
Groupthink is a pattern of thought characterised by forced manufacture of consent and conformity to group values and ethics. The concept originates from the work of a social psychologist, Professor Irvin Janis, who coined the term in 1972. In groupthink groups of highly intelligent people at times make poor decisions when insulated from the divergent opinions of people outside the group. Under these circumstances a person within the group, although holding an alternative view, will withhold that view to appear to remain part of the group, while the group will reject an alternative view originating from outside the group. There are many examples of this and its negative consequences within…
-
Choices … to be or not to be?
We all face choices in life, some important and some trivial. A career choice or what to wear on a particular day for instance. With a libertarian approach to life I become uncomfortable when the space within which I can exercise my freedom to choose is limited. I accept that clearly there are situations in life where restricting the freedom of an individual to choose is justified and indeed essential. Life under a COVID-19 lockdown that has now extended well beyond 100 days, has resulted in significant limitations of the freedom of choice for the citizens of this country. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, like governments across the globe,…
-
What is advice? … in the context of COVID-19
The challenges faced by countries and their governments to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic are formidable and in many countries there has been conflict and disagreement between the government of the day i.e. politicians and the experts i.e scientists and researchers. The United States is a glaring example of this scenario at its worst. There has even been conflict between public health experts and epidemiologists on the validity of various strategies to contain the spread of the virus with probably the most well documented example being that between the expert advice given to governments in the United Kingdom and Sweden. As in most things in life the final verdict on…
-
The time is now for change!
I trust also that the reader will agree that given my background, which I will elaborate on elsewhere on this website, I have no desire to make political capital out of any comments in this regard. So what is my assessment of the position South Africa finds itself after 100 plus days of varying degrees of “lockdown”? As I write Gauteng has for the first time the greatest number of positive COVID-19 coronavirus tests in any province as well as having the largest number of active case of any province. This is a trajectory that is closely followed by the Eastern Cape. The Western Cape long designated as the “epicentre” of the…